Patch applying apparatus



June 13, 1944. R. s. COLLEY PATCH APPLYING APPARATUS .Filed Jan. 29, 1941 -2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 6 8 3 2 .3 4. a a ZU U. wmmfi w 5. 9 m 0 3 2; 7 u .4 w 0" a n fl 55 rm ww w Patented June 13, 1944 PATENT OFFICE Russell S. Colley, Kent, Ohio, assignor to The B. F.

Goodrich- Company, New York; Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationJanuary 29, 19M, Serial No. 376,451 o ims. (01. 154-9) This invention relates to applying patches or pieces of sheet orstrip material to a length of material and especially to the applyingof; temporary protective patches to continuous lengths of flexible tubing at spaced-apartxpositions along;

the same.

It isdesirable to apply pieces oi'protectwe material on the surface of newly extruded rubber tubing temporarily at positions along the same where valve stems are subsequently to be adhered to provide apparatus and procedure for applying temporary pieces of strip material'at positions along the surface of a length of material; to pro vide for applying patches at Spaced-apart; positions along acontinuous length of tubing or the like; to provide for applying temporary patches smoothly at spaced apart positions along the sur-: face of a long length of newly-extruded innerf tubing; to provide for speed and. continuityof operation and to provide for economy and convenienceof operation and maintenance J a These and further objects will be apparentirom thefollowing description, referencel bei 'ig hadv to the-accompanying drawings in whichi, L; a, f v

Fig; 1 is a plan view of apparatus constructed in; accordance with and embodying the invention i Ie 9mi mw a. "f-

w "I A :F ai aa S Q r-WS B; ne t e l ne 2+? o fiahis of Fig, 1; .Fig. 4 is Fig. l. F s. i 1- Figtfi is a perspective view ofrailength ofainner tubing showing patches appliedby'the apparatus. Fig. 7'is a section taken along the'line 1:."l-=of Fig; 8 is'a diagrammatic'al view of the power transmissionsystem of'the apparatus Apparatusconstructed in accordance with the invention is' shownin assembly i i-Figs. and 5 of the drawings. A Iength' or unvm'cain V asection taken alongl the line is a i n aka-1' ne the lin saw tubing It, or theiike, to which protective patche are to be applied, is. fed to the apparatus by a nvey .belt, I l', or. by other suitable conducting means. Undesirabl'e adhesion between the inner Walls of the tubing may be prevented by a suitable expediena as' for example, by blowing soapstone into, the tubingor bypartially inflating the same. The conveyor belt II- is supported and guided on rollers I2, I 2. which maybe suitably mounted in frame members 13., [3," as shown, or otherwise suitably supported. The apparatus is mounted on vertical supporting members [4, M which are fixed. to and supported by. cross-frame members l5, IS. The apparatus may bemovably' mounted on theiramemembers l3,- It by means-of wheel brackets I6, I6 fixed to thecross-framemember 15,: I5 and wheels H; H- adapted to travel on the frame members I3, l3, details of which are" shown in Fig. 4, or the cross-frame members 4-5;}5 maybe fixed to the frame members i3, [-3 if desired,

The apparatus of the invent-ion may beadapted to apply anysuitable sheet material inqpatcli or strip form. In the illustrative embodiment temporary protective patches are applied to uncured inner-tubing. A patch materialpossessing: some tackinessr and substantially no permanent adhesion to rubber or rubber-like material? is desirable; It has been found thatia materialwll suited to the requirements isthat knownas'Koro seal, which is a plasticized polyvinyl chloride.

A supply roll l8 of sheet material of the width desired for patches is disposed in a suitable mannor, for example, in slotted-supportsl9,|'9 fixed to the vertical'supporting members [4, [41 Means for guiding the patch materialfroin the "roll [8 to the point 'of application and for restraining lateral movement of the same may comprise a p'air'ofsmall'guidingrollers2?, 20, a platform Zll, including guiding member 22,- 2,2, and a; pair oi indexing rolls 23 am adapte 'tojfeed the patch material to thesurfac of the 'inner-tubing, in, intermittently 1 by means of an over-running clutch Z5 'operatively connected with theindexing roll 23 which is connected bymean s oi gears 26 and 21; shown in Figs. 1am 3, to t e roll 24 and driven by a'rack 2'8jthro'ugh 'a'pinion 294,"the ck 28 being actuated by anal! Cylinder 30 A gu roller 29a' fixed "to a vertical supporting member 3i maybe "desirable to maintain contact between therack 28 and the pinion 29f The guiding means are mounted on the vertical supporting ember '4 as hQwma d are adap d toired ce 6r eliminate a y i as ng or wrinklin of the s at 9? "5 i a sr wt 'su d d o the sllriace'ofthe-inner;

fixed to the member [4 and. held against the wheel 32 by a spring member 34, are shown in Fig. 3. The ratchet wheel 32 is rotatably connected with the roll 23 and the clutch 25 and the action of the pawl 33 thereon permits rotation of the rolls 23 and 24 in a manner to feed patch material to I the point of application, while preventing reversal thereof.

Adjusting screws 35, 35 may be provided, if desired, to permit adjustment of the clearance between the indexing rolls 23 and 24 in accordance with the thickness of the sheet patch material used.

A movable knife blade 36 pivoted at a pin 31 is adapted to be actuated intermittently in a manner to engage afixed knife blade 38. The blade 36 may be operated through an arm 39 by means of an air cylinder 40. Suitable guiding means, as guiding brackets 4| and 42 shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, are desirable to direct the sheet patch material between the knife blades 36 and 38 from the indexing rolls 23 and 24 and hold the same firmly while the knife blades 36 and 38 are engaged to cut a patch from the sheet material. The pin 31 is fixed to one of the vertical supporting members l4 and may be adapted to receive a spring 43, which is desirable to maintain shearing action between the blades 36 and 38. The

air-cylinder 40 is fixed to a table 44 mounted on the cross-frame members I5, l5.

A pressure roll 45 is held by arms 46, 46 which are pivotally mounted on a shaft 41 fixed to a cross-frame member at 48, 48. A lever arm 48 is fixed with relation to the arms 46, 46 and the roll 45 and is adapted to move the roll 45 in' a path such that the roll 45 will alternatelycontact and be removed from the surface of the tubing l 0. The lever arm 49 is moved by contact with a finger member 58 mounted on the rack 28, shown in de-' tail in Fig; 2, in a manner such that the roll 45 rides 'on the tubing 18 immediately following the cutting of the patch so that the patch is rolled into contact 'withthe gummy surface of thenewlyextruded inner-tubing ,l

A power transmission :and control system adapted to provide for the desired operation of theapparatus is'shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8 of the drawings. The conveyor belt H is driven by a transmission belt whicnmay-also drivea second transmission'belt 52 connected through a speed changer unit-53 to a cam -54.- ;Tliev cam 54 trips a switch 55 adapted to close theelectrical circuit to a solenoid 58 which-operates a four-way valve 51 adaptedto distribute compressed air to the two air cylinders 30 and 48-through pipes 53 and66..

.In the operation of theapparatuscompressed air is deliveredthrough the pipe 53 tothe head end of the cylinder 36' and the crank end-of the cylinder 40. The rack. 28 is driven outwardlyfrom the cylinder 30.andthe rolls 23 and 24 are rotated through the pinion 28.by therack28 to advance a length of the, sheet patch material past the knife .blades 36 and 38 and the movable knife blade 36, is removed a distance from the fixed blade 38 by the cylinder 46 toeliminate the possibility of interference betweentheadvancing sheet materialand the movable blade 36,- The finger 50 on the rack 28' engages the lever arm 49 of the 75 the , 5, so that the sheet material to be cut is urged by contact with the tacky surface of the moving tubing t'oward a partially flattened disposition with .1 respect to'the tubing Ill which is the position of parts shown in Fig. 5. When the patch is cut it will drop; flat against the tubing l0.

Compressed air is then delivered through the supplypipe 60 to the crank end of the cylinder 30 and the head end of the cylinder 40. The rack 28 is drawn inwardly tdward the air cylinder 38 and the rolls 23 and 24 are held stationary by the ratchet-means asthe pinion 29 is disconnected from the rolls 23 and 24 by means of the clutch 25. Simultaneously, the movable knife blade 36 is brought'into shearing contact with the sheet material against the fixed knife blade 38 and a patch is cut. The patch thus cut drops into a position determined by the free-end which is already in contact with the gummy surface of the tubing as shown at 6| in Fig. 5. g

As the rack 28 is drawn inwardly toward the cylinder 38, the finger 56of the rack 28 releases the lever arm 44 and the pressure r011 45 connected therewith is lowered onto the inner tubing II) to press the patch-and the inner-tubing l6 into firm and uniform adhering relation, even though temporary, completing the cycle of operation. A new length of sheet material is subsequently fed out. as them ovable knife blade 36 iswithdrawn 4 and t pressure roll 45 is raised in continuous repetition of the cycle while patches are applied atspaced positior'isalong the surface of the inner- A spring-pressed valve '60a, operable to open when a predetermined pressure. is reached, may be provided in. the length of the pipe 68 which supplies thejcrankend of the cylinder 38 to delay slightlyithefeed of the strip 6| by rollers 23, 24 until the blade 36 is out ofthe way of the strip,

this valve, when employed, also delays return of the rack 28 slightly withrespect to operation of the, cutting knife but since the roller 45, is dropped during the first phase of returnmovemerit of the rack and the tubing is conveyed at'a relatively sldw speed, theroller 45 drops before the patch passesthereunder. f A length of inner-tubing II); with patches 62, 62 applied, appearsas shown in Fig.' 6.' The patches are, in most cases, desirably of relatively slight tackiness such that firm sealing adhesion to the gummy surface of the-newly formed innertubing I0 is provided, butadhesion of'a tem porary nature so that the patches may be conveniently removed when valve stems or the like are to be applied to the surfaces which the patches have protected during handling. Y

Theindexing rolls 23 and 24 are preferably covered with rubber or the'like to present 'frictional surfaces for contacting and pulling-the sheet material from, the supply roll l8. The desirable tackiness of the sheet material adds. to the frictional surface contact of the. indexing rolls 23 and 24 and the sheet material and also preventsover-running of the supply roll. ;I,8;by

1 providing a desirable degree of resistance. to gun-3 e ling.

from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatusfor applying patches from patch material in extended length to strip material at spaced-apart positions along the same, said apparatus comprising means for advancing the strip material, means for delivering an end portion of the patch material downward into partially fiat- I tened disposition in contact with said strip material by intermittent movements, means below said delivering means for severing the end portion of the patch material between the intermittent movements to drop the patches upon the strip material, roller means for pressing said end portion into adhesive engagement with said strip material, and means operatively connected with the patch material delivery means for removing said roller means from the strip material between patch applications.

2. Apparatus" for applying temporary protective patches from patch material in extended length to tubing of tacky rubber-like material at spacedapart positions along the same to protect areas of the tacky surface thereof, said apparatus comprising means for advancing the tubing, means for delivering an end portion of the patch material downward into adhesive contact with the advancing tubing by intermittent movements in a manner such that the end portion of the patch material is carried along by the adhesive engagement with the tubing toward a partially flattened disposition of said portion of the patch I material with respect to the surface of the tubing, means operated in timed relation with such movements for severing the end portion of the patch material between the intermittent movements to drop said portion upon the tubing, roller means for pressing said end portion into adhesive engagement with said tubing, and means connected with the patch material delivery means and operated in timed relation therewith for removing said roller means from its pressing posi- 5 tion between patch applications.

3. Apparatus for applying temporary protective patches from patch material in extended length to strip material at spaced-apart positions along the same, said apparatus comprising means for advancing the strip material, means for delivering an end portion of the patch material downward into adhesive contact with the advancing strip material in a manner such that the end portion of the patch material is carried along by the adhesive contact with the strip material with respect to the surface of the strip material, means operated in timed relation with the advance of the strip material for severing the end portion of the patch material to drop said per- 2!) tion upon the strip material, roller means for pressing said end portion into adhesive engagement with said strip material, and means connected with the patch material delivery means and operated in timed relation therewith for re- 95 moving said roller means from its pressing position between patch applications.

4. Apparatus for applying adhesive patches from patch material in extended length to strip material at spaced-apart positions along the 39 same, said apparatus comprising means for advancing the strip material, mean for delivering an end portion of the adhesive patch material downward into adhesive contact with the advancing strip material in a manner such that the 35 end portion of the strip material is carried along by the adhesive contact with the strip material with the surface of the strip material, means operated in timed relation with the advance of the strip material for severing the end portion 40 of the thus advanced patch material to drop the trailing end of said portion upon the strip material, means for pressing said end portion into adhesive engagement with said 'strip material, and means connected with the patch material delivery means and operated in timed relation 45 therewith for removing said pressing means from its pressing position between patch applications.

RUSSELL S. COLLEY. 

